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Monday, September 7, 2015

Two
weeks after Valentine’s Day and my big announcement to Lucas I finally hear
from my mother—when she sends a message to me through my little brother. She
wants to have lunch with Seth, Gram, and me to discuss our “issues” and she
wants to do it ASAP. As much as I want to tell Seth to tell Mom to shove the
invitation if she can’t personally reach out to me, I reluctantly agree to go.

After
all, she is my mother. Even if she does drive me up the wall.

“You
know, you don’t have to do this shit,” Lucas tells me as I help him pack his
carry-on in our bedroom. He’s leaving for Los Angeles in a couple hours—for a
Your Toxic Sequel radio interview and a few shows in California—and won’t be
back until the end of the week. I’d be lying if I didn’t admit I was already
missing him like crazy. “Or you can meet her when I get back.”

Moving
my head from side to side, I drop a handful of socks into the bag. “And then
the first thing she’ll comment on is how I can’t get anything done without you.
Ugh, I can hear her now.” I drag my hands through my long red hair, fist it
into a high ponytail, and then release it to fall around my shoulders.

Lucas
groans. “Stop with the hair, Red. It makes me want to pull you onto this bed and
make you forget the sound of that woman’s voice.”

“You’ll
miss your flight,” I point out in a sing-song voice.

“And
I give no fucks.”

“You’re
insatiable.” I glance over at him to witness him shrugging his broad shoulders.
The look in his hazel eyes—which, thanks to his black tee shirt, look more
brown than green today—is entirely unapologetic. “And if you’re not in L.A. for
that interview this afternoon, the band will surely blame it all on me and then
Sin will probably leave some screwed up post on my Facebook wall.”

“My
sweet evasive Sienna,” Lucas muses, tossing his cell phone charger into the
bag. When I raise my eyebrow, he grants me a half-smile. “You’re good at
changing the subject from your mom—Sinjin doesn’t do social media. Now … any
idea what she wants?”

I
narrow my blue eyes at him, but he motions his hand, encouraging me to go on
about my mother. “The last time she wanted to talk about our issues, she asked for money.” As usual,
the idea that my mom might spend years trying to use Seth, Gram, and me for
whatever we’d be willing to give her made me sick to my stomach. Of course,
maybe that was breakfast. Morning sickness has kicked my ass for the last week.
“I’m willing to bet she’s going to ask for the same thing today.”

I
release a heavy sigh. “Yeah, and the more I tell her no, the more she asks.” He
should know exactly how that feels, after Sam had extorted him for so many
years. Of course, my mother didn’t have anything to dangle over my head like
Lucas’s wife did, but there was always a part of me that was desperate for Mom’s
approval. She’s probably convinced herself that I’ll eventually give in.

“Are
you going to tell them about the baby?”

“Not
yet,” I say a little too quickly. So far, the only person besides us who knows
I’m pregnant is Kylie and I’m surprised she hasn’t told the entire world. She’s
that thrilled. “I mean, I will tell
them. After the first doctor’s appointment. Then we can tell everyone else.” My
voice shakes slightly, causing his features to drag into a deep frown.

Lucas
moves around to the side of the bed I’m standing on and places a hand
possessively on the small of my back. Drawing me close to him, he hovers his
mouth over mine. “If you let that woman get you stressed out—”

I
place my finger over his lips, shushing him and then run my other hand through
his mess of dark hair. “What? You can’t exactly spank me,” I say with a little
smile and he nips the tip of my finger.

“No?”
he questions, and I nod. His hand trails from the base of my spine to my ass,
gripping it hard. My throat goes dry because, damn, he knows exactly how to get
to me. “Are you so sure?”

He
throws his back to laugh, and when he looks at me again, his hazel eyes are
gleaming with desire. “I promise you, Red, spanking you will be a hell of a lot
less stressful than you’re crazy ass mother giving you shit.” He gives my ass a
small swat, and I suck in a deep breath. Reaching up, I clutch his tee shirt
and his grin widens. “And I also promise you’ll like it. The spanking, that is.”

Smartass.

Standing
up on my toes and tilting my head up, I press my lips to his, sighing when his
tongue briefly darts between my lips. When I lower my heels back to the floor,
I rub my thumb over his cheek. “Thank you.”

“For
taking your mind off your mom, always.” He kisses me once more, his lips soft
and demanding, and a sharp pain clenches my chest at the thought of him being
away for the next few days. “Just take care of yourself—” He trails his hand
from my bottom to my stomach, splaying his long fingers over the flatness. “—and
this … us.”

My
heart soars, and it’s hard to speak, but I move my head up and down. “I will,”
I promise.